>>5796280Poland was actually a big power in Europe for quite some time. They were so important, that the pope, the holy roman emperor and Venedig absolutely needed Poland to join their fight against the Turks.
Plus...Poland was a military powerhouse at the start of WW2. That Nazi Germany managed to beat Poland so quickly came as a big, nasty surprise to France and Great Britain, who counted on Poland being a real factor in the coming war. You need to remember that both Germany AND Russia invaded Poland at the same time.
